The mayor said the incident was a”Level 3 mass casualty event”.

It was reported that the train was carrying 238 passengers and 5 crew members.

The Amtrak train service between New York City and Philadelphia was suspended after the crash.

Emergency responders search for passengers following an Amtrak train derailment in the Frankfort section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 12, 2015. An Amtrak passenger train with more than 200 passengers on board derailed in north Philadelphia on Tuesday night, killing at least five people and injuring more than 50 others, several of them critically, authorities said. Authorities said they had no idea what caused the train wreck, which left some demolished rail cars strewn upside down and on their sides in the city’s Port Richmond neighborhood along the Delaware River. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

Emergency responders search for passengers following an Amtrak train derailment in the Frankfort section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 12, 2015. An Amtrak passenger train with more than 200 passengers on board derailed in north Philadelphia on Tuesday night, killing at least five people and injuring more than 50 others, several of them critically, authorities said. Authorities said they had no idea what caused the train wreck, which left some demolished rail cars strewn upside down and on their sides in the city’s Port Richmond neighborhood along the Delaware River. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

Rescue workers search for victims in the wreckage of a derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania May 12, 2015. The Amtrak passenger train with more than 200 passengers on board derailed in north Philadelphia on Tuesday night, killing at least five people and injuring more than 50 others, several of them critically, authorities said. Authorities said they had no idea what caused the train wreck, which left some demolished rail cars strewn upside down and on their sides in the city’s Port Richmond neighborhood along the Delaware River. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

Emergency personnel work the scene of a train wreck, Tuesday, May 12, 2015, in Philadelphia. An Amtrak train headed to New York City derailed and crashed in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)

Emergency personnel work the scene of a train wreck, Tuesday, May 12, 2015, in Philadelphia. An Amtrak train headed to New York City derailed and crashed in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)

Emergency personnel work the scene of a train wreck, Tuesday, May 12, 2015, in Philadelphia. An Amtrak train headed to New York City derailed and crashed in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)

An avalanche was captured on camera moments before it descended on Everest Base Camp (AFP)